Accessibility for all

Nivi Morales
Accessibility for all
@nivims

Disclaimer
▸ I am not an accessibility expert
▸ Speaking from personal experience using assistive
technology for visual impairment
▸ Sharing my journey and some insights
▸ Aiming to dispel myths about accessibility
▸ Introduce new concepts

Background
▸ How does my sight work
▸ How does it affect me
▸ Why does this matter

Blindness & Low Vision Statistics
▸ Less than 10% of people registered partially sighted 
/ blind have no vision.
▸ Around 85% of people registered blind/visually
impaired rely on a combination of magniﬁcation 
and screen readers to use computers
▸ There’s little understanding of low vision in the 
web community

How do I use computers / mobiles devices
▸Magnification
▸Windows magnification sofware
▸Zoomtext, Supernova, Magic
▸Apple
▸Accessibility settings allow magnification
▸Android
▸Large font / magnification gestures

▸ Glare control
▸ Inverted colour scheme
▸ f.lux (open source controls brightness / blue light)
▸ Supervisor
▸ Anti glare ﬁlter

▸ Speech software
▸ Dragon dictation
▸ Dictaphone
▸ Google text to speech
▸ Voiceover

▸Magniﬁcation tools
▸Compensates with issues reading small print
▸It allows sight to rest
▸Glare control
▸Prevents eye strain for light sensitivity
▸Speech software
▸Increases productivity (reduces amount of scrolling)
▸Makes it easier to take notes in meetings
▸Allows my sight to rest

Challenges of using assistive Technology
▸Magniﬁcation (Windows)
▸Slows computer down
▸Causes programs to crash
▸Forces swiping across the screen / increase scrolling
▸Inverts colours in pictures
▸Designed for IE / Microsoft native programs
▸Works ok in Firefox (not optimised)
▸Not ideal with Google docs

▸ Magniﬁcation (Apple)
▸ Poor choice of colour schemes
▸ Forces swiping across the screen / increase scrolling
▸ Inverts colours in pictures
▸ Advantages
▸ Part of native software (no licensing required)
▸ Does not affect performance

▸ Speech software (Windows)
▸ Slows computer down
▸ Requires speciﬁc headset to cancel background noise
▸ Optimised for IE and Microsoft software
▸ Will not always pick up commands. 
Requires signiﬁcant customisation

▸ Speech software (Apple)
▸ Takes time to learn. Can slow down productivity
▸ Issues picking up accents
▸ Advantages
▸ Part of native software (no licensing required)
▸ Does not affect performance

Disability is a spectrum
▸ Wheelchair users might be able to walk but not for 
long distance
▸ People might be able to use a keyboard but get tired 
/ feel pain after a short time
▸ Design for people of all abilities rather than for people
with disabilities

“The design of mainstream products
and/or services that are accessible to,
and usable by, as many people as
reasonably possible ...
without the need for special adaptation
or specialised design."
The British Standards Institute (2005)
Universal / Inclusive design

When we design for a wider range 
of users, a world of possibilities 
opens before our eyes.

Telephone
▸ Alexander Graham Bell developed it as part of his work
with the deaf community
▸ Both his mother and wife were profoundly deaf. 
They influenced Bell’s work and life
▸ He became heavily interested in developing devices that
allowed the amplification of sound
▸ Interesting fact: he considered the telephone so intrusive
he refused to have one in his office

Speech Technology
▸Dragon software / speech software:
▸Designed for users who are blind, have mobility issues
or dyslexia
▸It’s gone mainstream
▸Drives Apple’s Siri
▸Google Talk (Android’s take on Siri) also allows 
users to operate mobile devices without having to 
user their hands
▸Managers are using it to dictate letters, take notes
▸Specialised versions have been developed for legal 
/ medical professionals

Sonification of Data
▸Wanda Diaz Merced is an astronomer having difﬁculty
accessing specialised data sets due to sight loss
▸She developed a way of converting data into sounds
▸Whilst listening to the data she picked up changes that
would not have been visible on a graphic

Sonification of Data
▸In conjunction with NASA, she developed xSonify, an
open source data soniﬁcation software available on 
http://www.ascl.net/1207.008
▸Soniﬁcation of astronomical data sets where the
inspiration behind Star Songs. 
Jazz ballads using sounds from the stars 
https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sed/projects/star_songs/

Pinch Zoom
▸Allows enlarging content on websites when using a 
mobile device
▸Native on every website before responsive web design
▸Essential for people living with low vision
▸Beneﬁts people after 40, when our eyes lose ability to
read small print
▸Developers are actively disabling it on responsive websites
making them inaccessible
▸Mobile browsers like Opera and Chrome introduced a
feature that allows forcing pinch zoom
▸Force pinch zoom is now available on Firefox and Safari

10 principles of inclusive web content 
Penny Everett. Net Magazine
▸Think about people for all abilities before 
uploading content
▸Write link text that makes sense even when read 
without context
▸Describe sounds to a deaf person and images to a 
blind person as if they were sitting next to you

▸Explain what users need to do when input is required - 
i.e. when ﬁlling in a form
▸Upload suitably-sized image using web resolution (72dpi
/ 150dpi for retina displays)
▸Add relevant images, with descriptive alternative text,
to illustrate a point

▸ Write bite-sized chunks in plain English aimed at the
reading level of the target audience
▸ Present content with enough contrast between
foreground and background for both sound and images
▸ Make sure that any items such as placeholders, or
interactive objects, can be navigated when only using
the keyboard and page navigation is in a sensible order
▸ Use correct web formatting for things such as headings,
data tables, numbering and bullets

Accessibility for all

More Related Content

Similar to Accessibility for all

Recently uploaded

Accessibility for all